On the 3rd of March, Martin Kramer was arrested by police in the city of Vanino, in the Khabarovsk region of the Russian Far East, and was beaten up by FSB agents. Martin is a German citizen, who is coordinating travel of activists to the counter-summit against the G8 in Japan in the summer of 2008. He was about to travel to Sakhalin Island by a boat. Martin was accused of carrying “extremist” and “secret” documents. Around 10 AM Martin and his acquaintance from Nakhodka bought tickets for the boat to Sakhalin. While they were waiting for the boat, they were approached by a policeman. He said that he was the police officer Aleksandr Petrovich Kravchuk, and he demanded that Martin and his acquaintance follow him to a police station. Their documents were checked and they were released.

But soon Martin was detained a second time, and again taken to a police station. This time he was interrogated by FSB agents. The lead agent presented a document bearing the name Yevgeni Malakhov. FSB agents illegally took Martin’s documents, notebook, and personal stuff; he was searched and then beaten up. According to Martin, he was beaten with fists and feet, then he was taken to the 4th floor of the police station and threatened that he would be thrown out the window, and that afterwards agents would fabricate that it was an accident. FSB agents refused to invite a consul, and they gave him a “lawyer,” a woman who did not present any documents but who acted like just another agent.

Among Martin’s belongings, police found an archival document from the 1920s or 1930s stamped “secret,” and he was accused of possession of secret documents. Martin attempted to explain that these documents had been made public a long time ago, and he was working with them due to his research work. Agents ignored his explanations, and also claimed that the Ukrainian newspaper Liva-Sprava and the newspaper of Autonomous Action of Vladivostok, Udar,are extremist publications.

After a few hours Martin was released from the police station, taken to a car, and driven to one of the streets of the city and thrown out. Martin was late for the boat. He demanded a new ticket, but was refused. Then he was able to find a phone booth, from where he was able to call his friends in Moscow, but suddenly the connection was disrupted. We do not know what is happening with Martin right now.

Police in Vanino are refusing to comment, as it is already night in Vanino (+7 hours from Moscow time, +10 hours CET).